17 March, 2009

Bhindi Do Pyaza: Say No to Slimy Okra!

Bhindi Do Pyaza

What happens when you balance laptop in one hand, cloths basket in another hand, two coffee mugs dangling from fingers?
Well, nothing!
And imagine same scenario and you are climbing down the stairs, looking back and chatting away to glory?

Now we are talking!!! The result of such silly and stupid thing is you end up tumbling down from top stairs to bottom and then end up either with broken bones or severe back pain! That’s what happens when you are not watching your steps!!! Thankfully I didn’t end up with broken bones but suffered enough from back pain and bruises for few days! Never in my life had I felt good about those excess fat around hips ;) That’s the only reason I am walking (hopping/jumping is the right word in my case) without clutches or wheelchair today!

Since I was strictly kept away from kitchen or even getting up from bed/sofa (how boring!), TH was in charge of cooking. So here is my Sous chef, totally in control of everything and cooking one delicious dish after another, not only impressed me immensely with his cooking skill but also giving some tough challenge in kitchen. Looking at the way he’s been cooking storms in kitchen, I am having serious doubt about him starting his own food blog ;) Don’t you believe me? Then how about these crispy and delicious Bhindi Do Pyaza cooked by my much better half?

Bhindi Do Pyaza is a simple stir fry of Okras and Onions with just few spices. It’s one of the simple dishes which can give very tough competition to any complex dish. Flavour wise, the combination of crunchy okras and sweet onions can blow you away when cooked right! Only thing that you need to do is stir fry the okras in very high heat, adding right amount of oil and you will be surprised to see how crisp they turns out! So are you ready to say good bye to gooey, mushy okras and welcome this queen of vegetables with a very big hand? Shall we start the party?

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and add sliced okra to it. Stir fry on high flame till brown spots start to appear on sliced okra and its sliminess is reduced. It will take good 4-5 minutes for the okra to cook through yet retaining its colour and crispiness. Transfer the stir fried okra to dry plate lined with kitchen/paper towel.
Heat tbsp oil in a same pan and add kalonji and jeera seeds. When jeera starts to sizzle and turn golden red in colour, add sliced onions, green chillies and finely chopped ginger and stir fry till onions turns translucent. Add turmeric powder and stir fry till onions turn golden brown.
Mix in okra, lime juice and salt to taste and continue to stir fry for another 2-3 minutes for all the flavours to blend well.
Serve this delicious Bhindi Do Pyaza with some curry/dal and rice/chapatti and enjoy.

Notes:

Few tips for those who find it difficult to cut, and cook those slimy Okras.
Always choose young and tender okras. The best ones are the ones that get easily snapped when you bend the tail end of the pod.
Make sure that you dry the Okra completely after washing them in water. Either spread them on kitchen towel in single layer and leave it for few hours or pat them dry with dry kitchen papers/towels. It is a must that the okras are dried properly if you don’t like them go slimy.
Next while chopping them; make sure that you have dry chopping board and knife. Keep dry kitchen paper next to you and clean the slime from knife using it whenever needed.
I have tried stir frying the okra with very little oil and ended up with really slimy okras. So then onwards I usually use little more oil than normal and cook it on a very high heat. This way the okras not only get cooked fast and retain their crispiness, but also any moisture in them disappears at high heat. And you will be surprised to see how the sliminess is reduced in short period of time.

Oh Sia.. Hope you are feeling alright now. But the looks of it, you might want to stay away from the kitchen for quite sometime now. That bhindi subzi looks delicious, you have trained ur sous chef very well.. good job. Take care.

oh boy, that sounds terrible... hope you are doing fine! Bhindi looks tempting! Thats nice of your husband.. doesn't it feel good when you get that extra attention your better half when you are sick/immobile.. ?? Enjoy and take rest..

What were u thinking when u picked up EVERYTHING in ur hands? I guess u missed picking up the kitchen sink! Hope those bruises are ok now.. take care .. Bhindi Do pyaza looks Amazing! ur sous chef has done an AMAZING job!!!

How's ur back??? Hope you're fine now...... I was thinking of re-doing that bhindi with peanut masala i learnt from here..... looks like this one is another option i have now :)I just love the pics u post....

Hope you are feeling a bit better now. After 3 days of non-stop activities, I feel like I have been hit by a truck too, so tired. Need to relax and rest today. Fortunately, my Wednesday post is ready to go, so no work! :)

You Lucky Lady....oops i mean if i can ignore the back pain of yours,you surely are enjoying a thing which i never did in my married life till nowWhenever i am down with some fever etc,its either my mom who takes charge and send in me the BF,lunch and dinner,with my MIL helping out intermittently or else its always a Home Delivery option ;-).I haven't till date enjoyed my hubby's cooking though he used to made crisp dosas and yummy pavbhaji(as my In-laws tell me)Coming to bhindi do pyaaza,well we call it bhindi basar and its almost made same way here,but this coming from a person who is not regularly in-charge of a kitchen ,is surely a wonderful treatAs usual the subzi is popping out of the screen and it cant any more gorgeous than this

so k has the jai syndrome, huh? if you ask him to make x, y or z, he will keep pestering you. where is the fennel? where is the rice flour? if you ignore him or ask him to stop bothering you, he'll figure it out and do a fine job. take a month's break from cooking, sia. let k start posting for a change. get well soon.

Sorry abt your back( but you win some when you lose some).Like u might have been unlucky to have a fall but got lucky that you could just sit back and have your hubby make all the good stuff for u. I've always had trouble making okra becos it always ends up slimy. Will try your tips. Get well soon!

Yummy slimy bhendi,must be relieving to get the much needed help.Talk about carelessness,I almost escaped from a terrible disaster in the kitchen,sure to have landed me in ER.Thinking of blogging about it in my coming post.Take care:)

Hey gal, we got bore of ur rants, hand over to the Chef (not sous-chef) and u take the role of sous-chef. The bindi is cooked with perfection, now i am doubting if all the dish is cooked by him!Take care Sia!

Sorry about your back dear.Get well soon.Bhindi sabji looks delicious.Your husband is certainly a good chef. When i was down with fever,my husband made roti and was so happy to eat.Enjoy this for sometime :)

Oh dear...hope u're alright now. And the okras look great and why shud u crib when u can sit back and enjoy these goodies ? Take rest and savour every moment of pamapering :) The tips are really useful. I used to pan fry them with little oil. They turn to be crisp and tasty too.

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About Sia

Born in India and raised in fun and food loving family, I currently reside in UK with my better half and my two babies, five years old son and nine years old food blog. My cooking style has strong root in Indian culture and at the same time embraces the world cuisine with equal passion. With never ending love for food, spice and life, I am passionate about cooking and making Indian food less intimidating, healthy and easy to cook which reflects in my blog Monsoon Spice which has been ranked one among Top Indian food blogs. Read more…

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